Flower Market and...Sophie can Read!!!

Good evening! We had a very full and fun weekend. Although, it is ending on a note that is good and bad all at once.
See, we got an offer on our house today. Yay, right! Super yay, you'd think. The family is moving from California and wants to close April 15 and really likes it. Here's the problem. They're offering 23K less than our asking price. The market is just so hard right now, isn't it? Getting anything less than our asking price will mean we will owe money out of our pockets to pay for the closing costs, etc. It's just so depressing. Houses are supposed to be investments and here we are far worse off than when we started. Ugh. So now we have to decide what to counter, how low we're willing to go/how deep we're willing to dig into the old retirement savings, whether to scrap it and take our chances with renters...ugh ugh ugh. So what would seem to be a good thing is causing quite a bit of stress at the moment. We know God has a plan and it will all work out, but there are times when I really REALLY wish He'd clue me in so I could feel more at peace. :)

Ok, on to other things.
So, Wednesday I ran in the morning (yay me), then off to Bible sudy, quick bike home to get Coop, fed him lunch, here comes Tai Ping...typical day. Ben was out at the bar with the boys that night (keeping the Wed night tradition from home) so I got to catch up on some Glee. :)

Thursday Tai Ping got some bad new from home that her almost 15 yr old daughter has been skipping school to look for a job. She was saying that school was a waste of time and she could just start making money now. It's amazing. No matter where anyone is in the world, teenagers are trying to grow up too fast and take on too much responsibility when they don't realize focusing on school and being a kid is the best thing for their future. I see it in the US and also in the poorest regions of China. Just crazy. She was devastated to get this news and was simply crushed. Penny (the other family that employs Tai Ping) and I agreed she should take a few days off and go home to straighten things out (it's a 9 hr bus ride). When I told her this she said she was so concerned about doing this when she had just started working for us. She didn't want to make a bad impression. Seriously??? I insisted she go and not think twice about us. So, she's taken off Mon and Tues so now I can sit and watch some tv during Coop's nap for a few days. ;)

On Friday Ben went to the bar again (notice a theme? This time with his coworkers) so the kids and I had dinner and then a movie night! Popcorn, soda and the Lion King 2. It was fun except Soph kept getting scared at parts and watched half the movie from the stairs and Coop didn't really sit and watch at all. He did like the popcorn, though. See, it's just like being at home sometimes. :)

Saturday we headed out to the Flower Market to get some plants for our patio and inside. Think huge warehouse again only this time with shops and shops of gorgeous flowers and plants and pots for cheap!!

We ended up getting a tall palm thingy, 2 jasmine bushes, another tall skinny flowering plant thing for inside, a weird short flowering thingy, a cool vase for umbrellas by the door- all for around $200! I was super excited to get great deals on really nice plants.

After the flower market we went to lunch on Hong Mei Rd at a fantastic place called Bastiaan's. Hong Mei Rd has a ton of great restaurants of all kinds and nationalities. This Bastiaan's place was straight from home, however. It was this cozy little bakery and cafe with amazing food and great atmosphere. Pretty much anyone who comes to visit us will be going there (just so I can eat there more). :)
Here's Hong Mei Rd:

Coop at lunch:

The day was going so well! We wanted to go to the Pearl Market (another fake market of purses, shoes, luggage, etc) across from Hong Mei Rd after lunch quick bc Soph has completely destroyed all her school shoes that currently fit her and I just can't get myself to spend $50 to get a pair here that will only fit her for a few more months. Well, we wasted yet another hour of our lives looking through all 3 floors of the place and finding NO SHOES. I can't believe I'm back to square one with the shoe thing. So, I glued her shoes back together (again) and we'll see what I can find this week.

Saturday night was another fantastic pizza night hosted by our friends the Winklers (check under that middle basket of your coat rack, Laura). She had the best coffee table book. It's called Awkward Family Photos and we were all going through it and literally laughing hysterically. It reminded me of the show Ellen and the awkward pics she has of people on there sometimes. Too funny.

Sunday was a great day of church, relaxing and swimming with friends. Soph is an absolute fish now- diving for things at the bottom of the pool, swimming for 20 feet no problem. It's just amazing and she loves it!

The other amazing thing is that she can officially read!! Tonight before bed she read us an entire book (given, each page had like 3 words, but still). She sounded out the words she didn't know by sight and was so proud when she finished it. Seriously, she's grown up so much since moving here- all the things she's learned in less than 2 months! It makes me a bit sad but very proud. My daughter read me a book tonight, for the first time ever. It was a bit of a moment. :) Ok, I'm totally gonna post the book bc I want to remember what book she read to me-

Prayer requests:
-The house. That, again, God's will be done. That we are able to discern what His will is, hear it and follow it accordingly. That we may have peace with whatever happens with this exchange.

-Ben is very busy with work right now. Pray he does well and has time to feel happy and relaxed and enjoy himself here as well. There is so much on his plate being the sole bread winner so also pray that I may support him more fully and know how to help him.

-Praise that we are all healthy(ish)! No fevers or need for antibiotics- only need for a few tissues. :) Thankful for this!

-Pray for Tai Ping and her family. It is impossible to imagine what her life has been like and I would like to help her in some way besides just employing her. I would like to heal her soul and help her to know through Christ there is more than this life. Pray I may know how to witness to her.

Thanks for reading again. As always, you are all dearly missed and loved. Thank you for your words of encouragement and your prayers. We look forward to seeing you this summer!

Hiding out

I kid you not. Here I sit in my bedroom bc I feel like I should be cleaning because Tai Ping is cleaning. But, I want to get this post written and Cooper's sleeping and I have a precious 30 minutes until Soph gets home from school. So, I'm hiding out. :) Everyone says you get used to the idea that someone is cleaning your house for you while you sit and watch tv but I don't think that will ever happen for me. It's just weird!!

So, I'll start this post by talking a bit about my first day (and today) with having a housekeeper for 5 hours a day. Please know I think this is just as ridiculous as you do. :)

So, yesterday she showed up right on time, I showed her around the house, encouraged her to look through any cupboards or whatever to get a feel for where things are. She had asked me to write down a list of the things I would like her to do and when. She was surprised that I asked the sheets to be washed only once a week. Do I want them ironed, she asked? Um, no, that's quite all right. (Have I mentioned how this just feels wrong?? :)
Everything seemed to her liking and off she went with the vac to the upstairs and Coop and I headed back to my bedroom to a) hide out and b) empty out another big box that needed to be unpacked still. She was making quite a bit of noise upstairs but I figured she was shuffeling around some things. I'll just hide out in here.... After putting Coop to bed I brought some of Soph's things upstairs only to be met with this amazing site. See, when the air shipment came last Thursday they literally unpacked the toys by opening the boxes and turning them upside down into piles. So, the play area was essentially a huge mess of Barbie shoes and dress up clothes and Soph's dollhouse and Coop's therapy toys and books, books, books. When I had shown Tai Ping the upstairs I shamefully showed the mess to her explaining that Ben had just bought a bookshelf that he would be putting together and we did have bins for it but we just hadn't gotten around to it yet.....Guess what she had been doing. Every toy was picked up and put away. The books were lined up on shelves according to adults, kids and picture books. The entire area was organized and put away. I wish I had taken a before and after picture so you really could have a sense of what she accomplished. I gasped when seeing it and she says, "It's ok?" It's OK???? Um, it's amazing! I told her she didn't have to do that and thank you so much and wow, it looks so good. She seemed pleased.

So, this is how the rest of that first day went. She mopped and vacuumed and dusted and cleaned bathrooms and did dishes. I kept asking her to sit and have tea but I think she wanted to make a good first impression because she just carried on, right until 530. By 5 I thought, man, what'll she do tomorrow? This place is spotless! Ben came home at 520 and met her. She asked if we were happy with her work for the day. Again I said how amazing she was and how grateful that she is working with our family.

So last night we went out and bought some things she had asked for. Today when she showed up she thanked me for the items and got right to work. Ironing, mopping, straightening out toys that Coop had messed up. Dusting, doing laundry, doing dishes. See why I feel like I should be out there cleaning?? Although, honestly- what'll I clean? This is so odd (but kinda nice, too... :)

Ok, I've got to get Coop up and then go get Soph off the bus but I will write about our big move tonight and get this thing posted!

Ok, I'm back. So, the move. It was supposed to happen on the 15th but then got pushed back to the 16th bc GE wasn't approving the lease. It got approved and so we packed the old place up Wednesday night. 1 am Thursday morning rolls around and Soph comes into the bedroom raging hot. Like, 103 kinda hot. *sigh* Ok, so up Thursday morning, she's not going to school but instead gets to tag along sick as we move our entire place from one part of the compound to the other. A HUGE shout-out to my friend, Laura, who let us use her driver for the day. We would have been totally screwed without that! We loaded up our suitcases and some boxes I'd kept, brought them to the new place, dumped stuff out in the rooms where they'd go, go back, reload everything and repeat. There were piles of stuff everywhere in every room. Total chaos, a sick kid, then Coop got home at noon and while he napped at the old place, Ben was at the new place while some temporary furniture was being delivered. Suddenly our air shipment had arrived as well so he had them unpack the boxes and, again, dump things into the rooms they would be in.

This was the really annoying thing. I was taken around by a rep from SRC to approve furniture for our place weeks ago. I approved it but then when we went to check on it a few days before moving in, none of it was in place. They had thrown in some old junky furniture without telling us they'd changed the plans. After days of arguing and fighting they finally decided they'd give us what they originally said they would- 3 days after we moved in. Grrrrr!!! This is how things work in China. Your word means nothing, time wasted is nothing, money spent and wasted is nothing. SOOO frustrating and not how I'm used to living and dealing with people.

So, the furniture got changed on Saturday but we're still waiting for the couches, chairs, coffee table, rugs, lamps, tv console and a few other things. They won't be delivered until March 15th- or so they say.... *sigh*

But, now we're basically unpacked, organized and clean (thank you, Tai Ping!). We need to set up Coop's therapy area yet but Ben's been on work calls every night this week so, yeah, we'll see when that happens as well. We're hoping to get to the flower market this weekend and get some nice plants and such for the place. We have a huge balcony that needs a little love. :)

Ok, as promised- the pics. Please forgive how bare it is- we have to get pictures up and the other furniture yet. :)

Our kitchen! To the far left is a curtain- that's where one balcony is. It's a bit dark at night but during the day there's so much natural light.

Other view of the kitchen- in front of you is the laundry room- to the right is that balcony. To the left is the doorway to the rest of the house.

To the left is the cubby hole into the kitchen, in front an entry to the big balcony, the 55-in plasma that Ben drools over nightly, to the right arched windows in a half circle overlooking the development.

A look from the family room into the dining area. To the left is the rest of that circle bank of windows, then the couch, and the dining table and chairs. The spare bedroom is on the other side of the wall from the dining area, then a bathroom right in front. To the right is the front door.

The view from our balcony of the develpoment.

Part of the balcony- you can also see the clubhouse straight ahead through the rain.

View coming in from the balcony- family room to the right, dining area straight ahead, stairs going up to the play area/Soph's bedroom/4th bathroom. Kitchen just beyond the dining area.

Spare bedroom/ Ben's office (I told you it still needed work)

Cooper's bedroom- a little bare, I know

Half of our bedroom

The other half of our bedroom

The play area upstairs

Sophie's bedroom

View from upstairs to downstairs

So, I didn't show the 4 bathrooms or the other 2 balconies but, you get the jist. It's nice and we'll be happy here. It'll be really nice when we get the rugs and other furniture and pictures up. All in good time. :)

Prayer Requests:

-Sophie's fever lasted on and off for 3 days but she now just seems to have a cold. Cooper has a nasty cold right now and I'm also still on antibiotics for my sinus infection. Pray for health as we finish off the winter!

-Praise for a (relatively) smooth move, that we are in our place and that routine is (again) setting in.

-Ben has been very busy at work and pretty stressed out. Pray he has peace of mind and clarity of mind and finds moments of humor and fun in his day.

-Now that we're off GE's dime for eatting I am on my own for cooking us food! Pray I am able to find healthy options for our family that won't break the bank. :)

-Pray I may be a light for Christ to the many here that need Him- friends, my ayi, and even strangers. I know God has a plan for my outgoing personality so pray I hear where he wants me to go and what he wants me to do.

Thank you all for reading again! I love that so many of my friends and family can keep up with our craziness. I promise not to slack again so badly. :)

Slacker

That would be me.
Two weeks since my last post! Uh, I'm so embarrased. Thanks to Becca for not letting me slide!

In my defense, that first week nothing was really happening. Well, life was. School, work, the normal stuff. We were healthy, enjoying our last few weeks eating on GE's dime, getting to know people around here.

Oh, quick shout out. Ben's grandma turned 90 on the 17th!! 90!! Isn't that amazing??? So, Happy Birthday to Bette Barrett. We love you and miss you- Sophie talks of you often and how she misses you. Hope your party was fantastic!!

Ok, so, this is what we've been up to. On Tuesday the 7th, Sophie's school held a literacy meeting for parents of the younger kids. The intention was to introduce how they teach our kids to read and know phonics. It was really informational! Ben and I have been amazed at how quickly Sophie has learned to read words- in just 6 weeks she can sound out and pronounce words that are 4 or 5 letters long. When we moved here she didn't even know all her letters. We've been really impressed!

That day I was also invited to go to coffee at another friend's house where I met her lovely ayi, Tai Ping. Have I explained the ayi thing? An ayi is basically a housekeeper/nanny (if you want). EVERYONE has one. It's so odd. I work in the States and don't have a housekeeper so having one here is just so bizarre! Tai Ping will be working at our place Mon thru Fri from 1230-530 and, once we get comfortable with her, doing the occasional babysitting. She's actually quite amazing and we're really lucky to have gotten her. She is one of few ayis that speaks english, she has taken official courses in home economics and CPR. She recently was nominated to take a special senior home economics course and received the highest grades in Shanghai! She had to give a speech thanking the government for choosing her to take the course, etc... Anyway, she started today! I was so nervous. :) I actually spent quite a bit of time last night picking up so she wouldn't think we're messy people (I know, it's exactly what she's there for...).
I'll let you know how it went later in the post.

On Wednesday the 8th I attended my first women's Bible study. A woman from Alabama who I met through church invited me to it so we go together. It's on being a significant woman for God in this day and age. It's a good study and the ladies are all very nice but, wow, are they into it!! There's a lot of hand-raising and rocking and spontaneous prayers being vocalized in the middle of whatever. I guess it's just really different from my Coffee Break at home that I love SO much. Here they do 30 minutes of singing and reading of verses, then 45 minutes of study with the book, then more singing, then praying. It's good to glean from these women their enthusiasm for God and His word. Already I am getting more comfortable with the different way of worship and look forward to each week.

On Saturday the 11th we took a family trip to the textile market to have Sophie pick out what fabric she wanted for her duvet. This is a dangerous thing. Dangerous only because most of the fabrics are REALLY ugly so we were taking our chances that we could guide her to something cute. The kids were, once again, the center of attention. A group of older ladies were just obsessed with the kids. Sophie said "Ni Hao" (she's getting used to the attention and loves it when they just squeal with delight at her Mandarin) and, to my surprise, one of them started speaking english to us. "They all think you look like a doll- you are so beautiful". Sophie looks at me to see if this is ok. I tell her to say thank you and just turn around so she does. I found that comment so interesting at that moment bc at home we think of China dolls as the prettiest type of dolls. Wait a minute- just had a thought. Does that phrase "China doll" refer to the Chinese or to bone china that the dolls are made of? Hmmm, I may have been misinterpreting that phrase my whole life. Oh well... :) Another great moment was when one of the workers asked Sophie something in Mandarin and she then responded in Mandarin. The woman just giggled and giggled. I apologized and explained that sometimes she makes things up and says it's Mandarin. The lady said, "no, no! She said the right thing. I asked her how old she was and she said- "I'm 4 yrs old". I was amazed she knew what I asked and how to answer"! You're not the only one, lady. She can also ask someone "What is your name?". I guess she earned that Mandarin Star of the Week. :)
Here's a pic of one aisle (of hundreds) there so you can get a glimpse:

So, after only a few minutes, we found a cute pink fabric with little hearts on it. She fell in love with it, they offered to make a duvet cover and 2 pillow cases for $22 (can't go wrong- we didn't even barder) and they'll have it done in an hour. Thank you very much. We had another place make some fitted sheets and flat sheets (4 total for about $20) and went off to McD's for some lunch while we waited. An hour later, they were all done and off to home we went. Success!!

On Sunday we had another great China moment. We get to church only to find that the neighbor to the church (20 feet away) has decided that it was a good day to burn...stuff. He had a small shack-type thing with a smoke stack that was just billowing out the blackest, stinkiest smoke. The wind was just perfect to bring this delightful smoke monster right through the front door of the church. See, the church is all outdoors except for the sanctuary so it's not like we could just go inside and escape it. Ugh, SO nasty and went on the whole service. Thankfully once we went inside and closed the doors for service it was better. Gotta love China.

Monday was supposed to be my first day of normalcy- exercising, maybe the store, you know, whatever. Unfortunately at breakfast Cooper decided to vomit everywhere so all those plans went out the window. My poor baby. Really, he wasn't that bad- he didn't vomit again but was definitely clingy and cuddly all day (loved loved LOVED it- is that wrong?). :) When Soph got home from school she worked on the 6 Valentine's that Nana had sent. She picked her 6 people (Dad, Aubrey, Colin, Mia, Ms. Hafseth and Ms. Zhang) and it took and hour and a half to write out their names and her name but, she did it! She was very proud. :)

Tuesday was Valentine's Day!! Sophie got to wear her heart tights that Nana sent (thanks, Nana- HUGE hit!!) and Ben bought Sophie and I some beautiful flowers (and I got some chocolates- another huge hit). Soph said they didn't celebrate Valentine's Day at school and I thought that was just so odd considering at home there would have been a party for it! Although, I was super glad she didn't have to write 22 names....

The school also had another meeting that day where they taught us parents how they do numeracy and problem solving (let's just call it what it is, people- math). I came away with a ton of great ideas and websites for games and crafts that teach her without her even knowing it... heh heh heh...

That night the family enjoyed a lovely candelit dinner of blueberry pancakes, real Hormel bacon, real maple syrup, scrambled eggs and Champagne for the grownups. The meal was probably about $60 or $70 so it was quite a luxury (thank you, GE). It all tasted like heaven, though...

Wednesday morning- back at Bible study then at night I was back at Soph's school for a reading workshop put on by the teachers. Another brilliant idea. We could choose 3 20-minute workshops to attend that would give us real world ideas and take-home games or crafts that would help nurture our kids' love of reading. Mine were, of course, all based on Soph's age but other friends went to more advanced ones for their older kids...it was great. I came away with how to change a recipe so that we can read it together and cook together, several games that uses phonics and ways to tweak reading at night to help them learn it easier and enjoy it more. So, so brilliant. Loved it. And, I loved going for drinks with my girlfriends after. Just one, settle down- no repeats of before...it was a school night!

Ok, so, Thursday was the big move but that is truely another blog in itself. So, I'll post this one and work on another tomorrow that explains the move (with pics) and I'll tell you how my first day with a housekeeper for 5 hours went (It's like she's magic...) :)

Another shout out- this time to my sweet big boy nephew, Luca John, who turned 1 yesterday (the 19th). I hope he enjoys his pirate ship water table this summer! It blows my mind that he's a year old already. He looks just like his papa (my bro) and, if he's lucky, he'll turn out just like him, too. Not to say that turning out like his mama would be bad- bc it wouldn't. I love her to death. :) It just means I think my bro is super duper as well.. Ok. Good. Set that straight.

Hope you all are well. We miss you like crazy but are doing fine here as well. Each day is easier, more relaxed, less stress. Although cab rides are still super scary (no seatbelts, highways, crazy driving...). I feel a bit like life is passing us by over there so don't forget us, ok? We'll be back before you know it. ;)

Aquarium and such

Ni Hao from super-soaked, cold, rainy Shanghai. Nothing like a ton of rain when it's 40 degrees out. Really lifts the spirits, ya know!

We've been busy and hectic again which always raises the stress level and blood pressure. There is a fine line between seeing all the amazing things Shanghai has to offer and doing too much so that our lives suffer a bit.

Friday night we had another great pizza night hanging out with friends, talking about planning holidays together and relaxing. It was a fun night but a late one for the kiddos again.

Saturday we went to the Shanghai Aquarium in Pudong. It's on the other side of the Huang Pu River which splits Shanghai into the Puxi side (west, older, our side) and the Pudong side (east, very new-1990's). The aquarium is right under the Pearl Tower.

The aquarium was mostly underground. Each escalator down would be through a huge tank and there was a moving walkway through tanks and tanks of fish and stingrays and turtles. It was really amazing! A bit small and a bit expensive but I'm really glad we went.
Soph's favorite part was the mantarays (huh???), mine was the jellyfish, Ben's was the seahorses (huh?? again) and Coop really liked the gigantic tanks of multicolored fish.

You should have seen the group of people gathered to take these kids' pictures. They were, by far, the bigger attraction...

jellyfish! They would change color when the lights changed. Really neat but hard to capture on film...

Sophie was having a moment here...

There were many more amazing and beautiful things but the fireworks outside are driving me nuts so I want to continue so I can go to sleep soon. See, tonight is officially the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations- woo hoo!!! I am SO OVER fireworks!!!

After the aquarium we hit up McD's for some hometown goodness then headed home.

Coop was a no-go on nap yet again that day and Ben had taken Sophie for a bike ride to the video store (we now own more Barbie movies than I care to mention). Saturday night was very low key. Yay!

Sunday we headed back to SWIF- Shanghai West International Fellowship. There was nursery for Cooper and Soph did well in Sunday school. It was great to be back at church!

Afterwards we went out and loaded ourselves up with tennis racquets, squash racquets, badmitton racquets and all the accessories for them. Soph even has her own racquets! Then to lunch at Pizza Hut and More (a really nice, kinda fancy restaurant here- seriously) then to the B&Q (like Lowe's)for a fan to try and give Cooper white noise (cause maybe then he'll sleep)then finally home.

Shocker, fan didn't work and he didn't nap again and was a wreck the rest of the day. Way overtired and crazy with movement. If he wasn't in constant motion he was crying. It's exhausting...

This brings me to what we're struggling with right now. Cooper won't nap for at least a week now. I'd be fine with that if he was sleeping at night. However, he's not doing well at that either.

He goes down fine (with his melatonin, like usual) at 730-8 but then wakes up bt 5 & 6 every morning and doesn't go back to sleep. He's then exhausted all day, struggling more at school, complaining a lot, not consolable, won't sit to eat bc he craves constant motion. It's not fun at all anymore and I'm out of ideas on how to get his little brain to rest. We can't give more melatonin for naps or at the early morning time either.
Music doesn't work, fans don't work, weighted blanket's not working...ugh.

Back to the grind today. Today was the first day of Coop going by car without me to his school. The driver and ayi were very kind and he did really well. There are a few glitches we're still working out but I think this is good. I was able to actually eat some breakfast, get our produce from the farmer's market, get it all cleaned and work out! Sweet!

No nap again today but he did eat really well. So, that's something. :)

Prayer requests:
-Cooper, Cooper, Cooper!!! That his mind can rest so he can learn and that I may know how to help him.
-That Sophie continues to enjoy school and life in general (things have been much better with her lately!)
-I start attending a weekly Bible Study on Wednesday and I'm really looking forward to meeting more women from our church and getting more involved. Pray we are all blessed through this gathering.
-Our house did not sell- the buyers picked the other house. :( We were very bummed to get this news but can now move forward. It's really really hard to wait for God's timing, sometimes... pray we are patient.

Ok, I HAVE to go to bed. The fireworks are at a lull right now so now is the time to get to sleep before they start again!

God bless you all- we miss you all dearly but are hanging in there ok over here. :)

Mandarin Star of the Week!

Man, it's almost been a week since I've been on here! Such a slacker, I apologize. :) Honestly, the reason I've not posted is simple- we've had a very boring week! Yay!! Boring means routine is here and schedules are normal and life is good. I like boring. :)

This is our last week with our driver, Andy, as well. Ben started with his new carpool on Monday and they haven't kicked him out yet so I guess it's going all right. :) Cooper will start with his van on the 6th. The school is coming to pick him up and bring him home. I'm a bit nervous about this but the driver and ayi in the van are from his school so it helps a bit. It'll be fine, I'm sure. I'm just so so so protective of him...

Ok, so back to the driver thing. Like I said, this is our last week with him so I have been trying to go everywhere I need to getting things for our new place- pots, pans, etc. This way I won't have to try and load it all onto my bike in a week and bike it home. :)

On Monday I was at the Carrefour (like Meijer on crack) and I was trying to choose fry pans and a wok. There are about 50 kinds of woks and you can spend anywhere from $10 to $200 on one. I've already learned that getting the cheapest is not the right choice so after 30 minutes of looking, having no idea the difference between them all, I chose one and picked a seperate lid. Feeling happy with my cheap, but not cheapest, choice I started to walk away when a really old Chinese man came up to me. He pointed at my wok and shook his head. Uh oh. Then he shuffled to the woks, pointed at one that already came with a lid (and was a bit cheaper than the one I'd chosen), and nodded. Then walked away. Seriously. So what did I do, you ask? I put away my wok and bought the one he "told" me to. Here's hoping it works well and he's not sitting at home laughing at the silly white woman who did what he said... :)

On Tuesday my Brit friend, Liz, and I went to the Textile Market to have some linens made. For some reason I couldn't find fitted sheets at Ikea over the weekend so I wanted to get some made. Liz got a duvet cover, 4 pillow cases and 3 fitted sheets all for less than $100!! I got my 2 fitted sheets and now tomorrow I have to go pick them up. That place is just ridiculous. 3 stories of booths. It's all in this huge warehouse- probably the size of Michigan Stadium. Just huge. And all these tiny booths filled with Chinese people trying to sell you linens they've made or can make you, clothes they can make you, shoes, household goods, drapes, you name it. Its dingy and freezing cold (the government has control over who gets heat when) and a bit sad. But the things they make are beautiful and I was happy to buy from them bc a) it's cheaper than Ikea and b) It helps provide income for them.

Wednesday I went to coffee at Starbucks with friends! Yeah, baby! This is what I should be doing every day, right? Going to the spa, going to coffee... yeah, I wish. :) It was really nice, though.

Today I treked back to Ikea. It took us 45 min to get there from Coop's school but we got there by 920. Sweet, gives me an hour and a half to walk thru and get stuff for the new place. Oh wait, it doesn't open until 10. Ugh!! I hung out at their cafe until 10 then literally ran thru the place grabbing all the things I could find easily, made it to the car by 1050 and barely made it back to his school by 1130 to pick him up. I think I may actually like not having a driver bc it will force me to stay home more and then I can go have coffee more... :)

Today Soph came home from school beaming. Out of her backpack she pulls this:

Fantastic, right?
I'm sure they hand these types of things out every week and to every student but this was the first time she's ever received one. She goes, "Mom! I got a certificate today!" It was really quite cute! She was so proud and we are proud of her as well. A certificate for Mandarin?? I still haven't learned anything new and she's getting certificates for it! We hung it up and then got a picture with it-

Tonight while laying in bed we talked about how she was doing here. She said that she missed her friends and family at home but that she liked it here. We talked about her friends here and how it will be fun to go back to Michigan in the summer and play with everyone there and then come back here and see her friends here again. We talked about how once we move back to Michigan for good we may not be able to see some of these friends again and so we should enjoy the time we have with them now. She said she loves her friends here and likes it here. I think we're turning a corner!

I've joined a Bible study that starts on Wednesday. It has several women that go to the local church we attend and it's in the neighborhood right next to our development! Yay! I'm excited to start and look forward to getting back into studying the Bible.

Ok, off to bed. Ben has been on the phone with our insurance company for over 2 hours bc of bills they're not paying for some services for Cooper. I hate hate hate dealing with insurance companies. They will do ANYTHING to not have to pay something!!! Like we need this. ugh.

Prayer Requests:
-We're still waiting to hear on the house. Maybe this is good, maybe not. At this point we'd just like an answer so we can move on one way or another.
-Pray that Cooper's transition to riding in the van goes well and he is calm and it all works out.
-Give praise that we are all healthy and feeling like our feet are on solid ground and that we found a close church, a Bible study and good friends! God is good- all the time, God is good!

I hope you all are doing well and staying healthy. The weather seems to be kind to my Michigan peeps- lucky dogs. Figures the one winter that is warm I move to China and it's freezing here!

God bless and we'll chat again soon!